A-Kon

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A-Kon is an annual three-day anime convention held during June at the Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas and Toyota Music Factory in Irving, Texas. First held in 1990 with just 380 people in attendance,<ref name="dmn03">Template:Cite news</ref> A-Kon is North America's longest running convention primarily focused on anime.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

DepartmentsEdit

A-Kon consists of many volunteer managed teams each dedicated to operating a portion of this large convention. Each year, usually in February or March, they post a web page for volunteer sign-up. Volunteers work at least sixteen hours during the weekend and receive a free pass to the convention. Working for 20 hours, volunteers aged over 18 can receive a hotel room, shared with 3 other staff members.

ProgrammingEdit

While the focus of the convention was originally centered on anime fandom and screenings of films and television series, many other activities take place encompassing various segments of geek and Japanese pop culture. These events include panels with American authors and artists, a console gaming room, tabletop gaming room, cosplay, scavenger hunts, martial arts demonstrations, an art show, and concerts by Japanese and SteamPunk bands. The convention also maintains a vigorous social network presence on Facebook and Twitter, having about 15,000<ref>https://www.facebook.com/ProjectAKon Template:User-generated source</ref> and 7,000<ref>Template:Cite Twitter profile</ref> followers respectively, through which they post information and run contests throughout the year.

HistoryEdit

The name seems to be a play on the early anime series Project A-ko.<ref name="A-Kon Grows through the Years">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A-Kon was purchased by Frank Powell in January 2019, during a period when the convention was having money issues.<ref name="ah01222019"/> A-Kon 2020 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.<ref name="ann03172020">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="AC-2020">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A-Kon 2021 was also cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.<ref name="ann03022021">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="AC-2021">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A-Kon 2024 was postponed due to various issues including financial problems.<ref name="pv02262024">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="ann02172024">Template:Cite news</ref> The convention, in a May 2025 update announced that 2024 refunds were starting to be issued, and they hope to hold an event in 2026 or 2027.<ref name="ann05222025">Template:Cite news</ref>

Event historyEdit

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ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit

Project: A-Kon web site

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